Go to Post FIRST is definitely worth any amount of money any company gives. FIRST really puts on good events for us, and I can see where the money is going. - RBrandy [more]
Home
Go Back   Chief Delphi > FIRST > General Forum
CD-Media   CD-Spy  
portal register members calendar search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read FAQ rules

 
View Poll Results: Should teams be allowed to make repair parts for their robot after a competition is o
Yes - Robots do break - Give us until Tuesday following. 80 61.54%
No - You break you will have to tuff out the repair on site 28 21.54%
No - Just pack up and go home, forget the nationals 3 2.31%
Just break the rule 19 14.62%
Voters: 130. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
Thread Tools Rating: Thread Rating: 7 votes, 4.57 average. Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #14   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 01-02-2002, 15:34
ChrisH's Avatar Unsung FIRST Hero
ChrisH ChrisH is offline
Generally Useless
FRC #0330 (Beach 'Bots)
Team Role: Engineer
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Rookie Year: 1998
Location: Hermosa Beach, CA
Posts: 1,230
ChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond reputeChrisH has a reputation beyond repute
I wouldn't object IF...

there was a halfway reasonable chance of actually getting something worked on at an "official" event machine shop.

Our first year I personally waited for several hours at Nationals for a fifteen minute job to be done. It seems the team that got there ahead of me needed their entire frame rewelded. We missed a practice session as a result. Fortunately that was all we missed. This was at the best shop I ever saw at a competition.

I don't know about other venues but here in LA you can expect to NOT have ANY machine shop availability UNLESS there are some drastic changes from last year. Fortunately we didn't need shop services, but there are some pretty ugly stories from those who did.

I'm not saying that there isn't a shop, but it was so overloaded that there was no way you could count on getting anything done there. Not to mention that you had to be driven over there in a "shuttle" that came once in a blue moon.

Last year we had about 40 teams and at least half were experienced. This year there will be 80 teams and twice as many rookies as last year. I am planning on spending most of my time there helping other teams get their machines running and I am NOT looking forward to the line for the machine shop. Especially when FIRST has basically shut out the possibility of bringing your own.

As for spares, while that is possible for some obviously vulnerable components, in many cases you just can't know what will break. A few years ago I talked to a guy whose team lost the finals at Nationals because a little tension spring broke at a critical moment. That spring had never given them trouble before and they had been to at least one regional prior to Nats.

It's sort of like that Dilbert cartoon where the pointy haired boss asks Dilbert what kind of unforseen problems he expects and how long will they take to fix.

We'll bring along just about all the tools we can carry and if they are not in our fists in use any team is welcome to borrow them or our expertise. But we will not be bringing our own mill, lathe or welder, and somethings just can't be replaced by a vise and a drill motor.
__________________
Christopher H Husmann, PE

"Who is John Galt?"
 


Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
$3500 ruling......big mistake JamesJones Rules/Strategy 42 13-01-2003 18:38
Wow! what a year archiver 2000 8 23-06-2002 22:43
WOW!!! archiver 2000 3 23-06-2002 22:22
WOW RebAl Chit-Chat 15 10-04-2002 17:13
WOW ! Mike Schroeder General Forum 12 12-03-2002 21:32


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:50.

The Chief Delphi Forums are sponsored by Innovation First International, Inc.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi